Colleges: Holy Cross down to two finalists for athletics director

Tuesday

Dec 10, 2013 at 11:00 PMDec 10, 2013 at 11:28 PM

Jennifer Toland Colleges

Holy Cross is close to hiring a new director of athletics.

Sources said Central Connecticut State University director of athletics Paul Schlickmann, a Worcester native, and University of Maryland deputy athletics director Nathan Pine are finalists for the position.

Dick Regan, who has served as HC's director of athletics since 1998, announced in July that he was stepping down.

Schlickmann, a 1989 Trinity graduate, is in his fourth year in the CCSU job. He was previously the executive associate director of athletics at Stony Brook for seven years, and spent 10 years in senior administrative roles at Yale.

Schlickmann was an assistant men's basketball coach for two years (1989-91) at Worcester State. He earned his master's degree from Springfield College in 1995.

Before Maryland, Pine oversaw all aspects of the major gift program and development staff for athletics at the University of California-Berkeley, where he earned his master's degree.

Pine, an Oregon State graduate, also spent four years as a member of the athletic senior leadership team at Army.

An announcement on Holy Cross' new director of athletics is expected before Christmas, possibly this week.

Smallwood to try NFL

UConn redshirt junior linebacker Yawin Smallwood was on the bus heading to Rentschler Field for the Huskies' final game of the season Saturday and checking social media for updates of his alma mater Doherty High's Division 4 state championship game against Dennis-Yarmouth.

The Highlanders captured the title with a 28-26 win, and after UConn beat Memphis later in the day, Smallwood announced he will forego his final season of eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL draft.

Yes, it was a pretty big day for the Doherty football program.

Smallwood finished his outstanding final college season with 118 tackles and four sacks and was named UConn's Defensive Player of the Year.

Several draft analysts project Smallwood as a top-100/Day 2 pick.

"I'm excited," Smallwood said Tuesday. "It's going to be a new journey, a new experience, and I'm ready."

Playing in the NFL has been Smallwood's dream since he was 7 years old.

"I felt like (entering the draft) was the right thing to do," Smallwood said. "I felt like I had a great career and I felt like it was time for me to make that leap. My family definitely plays a role, too. I feel like I can put myself in a situation where I can help my family out and make that leap for myself."

He said he is in the process of finding an agent.

Smallwood, one of Doherty's best, followed the Highlanders all season and obviously was thrilled when he heard Saturday's final score.

"I was real pumped," he said. "It goes to show how good the players are and how hard they work and how hard the coaches work."

HC's Dudzinski steps up

Holy Cross forward Dave Dudzinski, who scored his 1,000th career point in last Saturday's loss at Hartford, is in the midst of a super senior season, and opposing coaches have taken notice.

Harvard coach Tommy Amaker praised Dudzinski after he poured in 25 points against the Crimson in HC's 10-point, season-opening loss.

Albany coach Will Brown also offered accolades following Dudzinski's 22-point performance in last week's win over the Great Danes. Dudzinski took over down the stretch and sank the game-sealing 3-pointer with 13 seconds left as the Crusaders battled back from a 10-point deficit.

"He is really good, he is terrific," Brown said. "He would be the Player of the Year in our league (America East) and he will be the Player of the Year in the Patriot League probably. I wouldn't let anyone else shoot if he was on my team. He is really, really good.

"The problem with him is he scores from 3, he scores from midrange, he scores down on the block, and he makes his free throws. He has great size and great skill. He is the best big man we have played this year. When you have the Player of the Year in the post, he is going to make everyone on your team better."

Dudzinski definitely is setting himself up as a frontrunner for Patriot League Player of the Year. He's averaging 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds, both of which rank third in the league. He has made 52 percent of his field-goal attempts and is HC's best free-throw shooter, making 80 percent from the line.

As he demonstrated in the Albany game, he has emerged as the team's leader and obviously as its go-to guy.

"That's something that we talked about going into the season," Holy Cross coach Milan Brown said, "that he would have to step up not only on the court, but also commanding the locker room. He's done a tremendous job of that."

The Crusaders return to action Dec. 16 when they host Canisius at 7 p.m.

Brown was hopeful that junior guard Justin Burrell, who has a broken bone in his hand, would be back for that game, but it doesn't look that way now.

"He wants to play in the worst way, the guys want him back and so do we," Brown said, "but we want to make sure we're doing the right thing. I don't want him to try to play the next week or two if he's not fully ready to go."

The Crusaders also have been without sophomore guard Cullen Hamilton, who has a torn patellar tendon. Brown said Hamilton will be re-evaluated in early January.

Murray leads Hoyas

Georgetown junior John Murray of Shrewsbury recently won the IC4A Men's Championship Division cross-country race at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, and led the Hoyas to the team title.

Murray covered the 5 miles in 24:56.6 and was one of four Georgetown runners in the top 15.

Murray had an outstanding career at Shrewsbury High. He was the 2010 state cross-country champion and a two-time Footlocker Cross-Country National Championship qualifier in 2009 and 2010.

Murray finished 18th at last month's Big East Championship and was 18th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional.

Contact Jennifer Toland at jtoland@telegram.com.Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.